Wednesday Christmas Wish- Raeana Smith

My Christmas wish is for my daughter, Alanna who is five years-old and has autism. She has been sleeping on an airbed for almost a year and has never had a real bed of her own. As a baby, she went from her crib into sharing a twin sized bed with her older sister. This worked well for a while; however, as Alanna’s sleep patterns became more erratic due to her autism she was constantly waking her sister. Our “temporary” solution was to move her into her youngest brother’s room, but I’m afraid that’s not working either.

Tom, the only way to get Alanna to calm down and fall asleep is for me to lie down next to her. She often wakes up in the middle of the night and can’t return to sleep without my help. We urgently need to get her a bed of her own. However, I have been unemployed for more than a year, due to a job layoff and my husband is a full-time student and resident Chaplin with a minimal stipend and we can’t afford it. Right now, making ends meet every month is a true faith walk.